20 years Elefant Racing at the University of Bayreuth

Elefant Racing was founded as a non-profit association in March 2004 by 16 students with a passion for technology. The name was inspired by the then name of the Faculty of Engineering: Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences, FAN. Supported by professors and research assistants from the university's Faculty of Engineering, the students have been planning and building the single-seater formula racing car and demonstrating it at races and competitions ever since. Not only is the performance of the car assessed, but also a business plan including cost accounting. To mark the association's 20th birthday, the now 18th car “FR24 Fenrir” was presented to former team members, sponsors and supporters of the association. In an interview with UBTaktuell, Maximilian Simon, Chief Operating Officer and 3rd board member of the association, talks about the successes and development of Elefant Racing since its foundation.

UBTaktuell: Maximilian, how many students are currently part of the Elefant Racing team?

Around 40 active members are involved in building the new car at Elefant Racing. The majority of the team is made up of students from the Faculty of Engineering. However, there are also many economics students who are involved in the business plan. But we also have students from other faculties who support us in the team. Ultimately, all students are welcome, regardless of their faculty. The exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration are great fun!

What has been the biggest success of the last 20 years?

That was our car from 2015, the “FR15 Valkyrie”, with which Elefant Racing was able to celebrate great successes: With this racing car, we ended up in 7th place overall in the Formula Student competitions in Germany and Austria and in 1st place in the Czech Republic.

What are the biggest challenges in building the racing car?

The biggest challenge is time. We only have one year to develop and produce a new racing car. To make this happen, we work closely together as a team and are in constant communication. We also have a high proportion of in-house production. This can lead to problems that do not arise when components are sourced externally. On the other hand, the entire production team can learn a lot from these challenges and contribute new ideas. The collaboration at Elefant Racing is therefore always exciting and it is a great feeling to be able to present a finished racing car after just one year.

How have the cars developed over the last 20 years?

As a team, we are constantly striving for improvements and trying out new things. After we were founded in 2004, we initially built pure combustion cars. In 2011, we were one of the first German teams to decide to switch to pure electric motors, at that time still with rear-wheel drive. From 2015, we built a carbon monocoque chassis and from 2016 our cars were given an aerodynamics package. In 2019, we built our first all-wheel drive racing car. The following year, our car was able to drive fully autonomously for the first time.

What competitions are planned with the latest racing car?

We will be taking the “FR24 Fenrir” to the Formula Student Austria at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg at the end of July. Then we'll be heading to the Formula Student Czech Republic at the Autodrom Most at the beginning of August and the following week we'll be at the biggest Formula Student Germany event at the Hockenheimring. So we have an exhausting but very instructive and exciting time ahead of us.

What experience have you gained in terms of performance over the last 20 years?

The competitions can be roughly divided into dynamic and static disciplines. In the static disciplines, such as pitching a business plan and a cost analysis, we are always very good and at the forefront. In the dynamic disciplines, we are in the upper midfield and want to continue to improve here. Last year, we took home 3rd place at FS Czech in the acceleration category. That's why we want to build on our successes this year and perhaps finally complete the Endurance again. This is the most difficult discipline, which only very few teams manage. The entire construction of the racing car has to prove itself over a distance of 22 kilometers under constant stress.